A doula is an emotional support person that is knowledgeable about birth, interventions, and can help relieve labor pain by suggesting different labor positions and massage. A midwife is a medical professional hired to offer routine prenatal and postpartum care, attend your birth and offer care should any complications arise such as hemorrhage, resuscitation, or fetal distress. 

Yes there are different licensures and credentials for midwives. In the state of Florida you must hold a license to practice midwifery - LM(Licensed Midwife). A CNM(Certified Nurse Midwife) is a nurse practitioner with a speciality in women's health. LM's mostly practice out of hospitals and CNM's mostly practice in hospitals, but not always. Birthkeepers are an unlicensed entity that usually offer "care" at unassisted home births. They practice illegally and should not be categorized as a midwife because they do not attend midwifery schooling or training. 

Midwives care for healthy, low risk women. Your health history and current health condition will be reviewed for risks. Sometimes we may send you for an ultrasound with Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors for these risks. Having risks does not always mean you can not have a home birth, it may just mean you need some extra monitoring during the pregnancy. By law, Licensed Midwives in Florida can not care for women with conditions like gestational diabetes, high blood pressure or preeclampsia, breech births, and twins/multiples. Routine screening can help to monitor for certain risks. 

Licensed Midwives receive thorough training on how to handle complications that can arise. Most of the time a midwife can resolve the complication on her own, but if you happen to need obstetrical attention due to a complication, we have a plan set up for this. Because midwives see so much normal physiological birth it can be easier for them to spot when something is off or out of the normal. Midwives are trained in neonatal resuscitation as well, so should your baby need assistance they can jump right in and take action as needed.

We do not accept insurance, however we do have options for women who have health insurance. We may either refer you to a third party biller that we work with to bill your care to your insurance, and they reimburse you. The company charges a fee to offer this service for you. Another option is that I can offer you a superbill of your care at the end for you to bill your own insurance. They often will work best with you as you are the one paying them. We can bill your insurance for things like lab and ultrasound costs, so you can use your coverage for this. Medicaid can not be billed retrospectively if you have paid for services.

We charge $7,200 for full midwifery care. See the full list of services offered in the Services tab.

We require basic prenatal labs that include blood typing, iron and platelet evaluation, screening for sexually transmitted infections, a glucose test in the second trimester, and group B strep testing at 36 weeks. We also require 1-2 ultrasounds during the pregnancy. The first would be an anatomy ultrasound around 20 weeks. This rules out fetal abnormalities, lets us know where your placenta is, and can offer reassurance on fetal well being. Should you happen to make it to the 41st week of pregnancy, we are required to send you for another ultrasound then as well. Patients must also adhere to the visit schedule: you see the midwife monthly until 28 weeks, every other week until 36 weeks, and weekly until you deliver as required by Florida Law.